We’re well past the halfway point of this nine-part series, and it’s going pretty well so far. If you’re enjoying it as much as I am, you’d probably go further than that. I do have a few concerns, though, particularly given the way the episode ended and how far Ellie is from the relocated Fireflies hospital. There are three episodes left and a lot of ground to cover.
‘There are firefly people?’
After the briefest of Kansas City recaps – Henry and Sam’s deaths no less shocking on a repeat viewing – we skipped forward three months to snowy Wyoming. Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) were in the home of an elderly couple, Marlon (Graham Greene) and Florence (Elaine Miles). After a relatively tense opening exchange – “Who’s this little psycho?” – things cooled down enough for them to talk and Marlon and Florence to reveal just how isolated they are from the world of Fireflies, infected, hunters and Joel and Ellie’s mission. “There are firefly people?” asked Florence, innocently enough.
The old-timers did, however, say that our heroes shouldn’t head west of the river – they’ve seen enough dead bodies, infected or otherwise, to know that much. Could it be Tommy and his people behind all the killing, or someone/something else?
Ellie got perhaps her first taste of booze from Joel’s hip flask – “so gross” – and outlined her plan for the future. What comes after she’s given a sample of her blood to the Firefly doctors? Where do they go and what do they do? Joel wants an old farmhouse and some land on which he can raise sheep. Ellie, meanwhile, said she wanted to go to the moon, which shows just how far these two have come.
Last week, they were enduring and surviving; here they are making plans for life after a potential cure. It’s heartbreaking, really, and you can’t help but feel it’s a completely futile gesture. Each of their imagined futures seems, at least at this point, about as likely as the other. But then, trapped in this scenario, why would you keep going on this mission if you didn’t believe there was something better on the other side?
If Joel’s failing hearing wasn’t enough of a worry, the way he almost collapsed when he left the hut is another sure sign he’s not in the best health. As the episode went on, there was a definite sense that he’s not the protector he might have been even a year ago. He’s getting more scared by the day, and he needs his sleep, missing his turn on watch duty to get some shuteye. He was uneasy with Ellie looking out for him and taking an extra shift as lookout, but when she explained what she had been doing and how well she had been scanning the surroundings, he couldn’t help but be impressed. “I kept watch, like you taught me to. What can I say? I’m a natural.” And when the episode ends, if she is to nurse Joel back to health, those survival skills will be put to the test.
The river of death
Onwards to the river, when it dawned on Ellie that they may be in a spot of bother, surrounded by people on horseback and sniffed by a scary dog to check for infection. Thankfully “Tommy” is a magic word in these parts, and the duo were ushered to the relative safety of the settlement they’d been looking for all along.
The last time we saw Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Joel together was the night of the outbreak and Sarah’s death. As the series has gone on, we’ve learned a lot has happened between the brothers since then – but their reunion brought home just how much they have to work through. Tommy is now happily married to Maria (Rutina Wesley), expecting a child and living in a commune that appears pretty idyllic. They have a stocked bar, fresh fruit and vegetables, decent meals, electricity on tap and gorgeous horses to pet, plus no infected and, best of all as far as Joel is concerned, Christmas trees and bacon.
Joel lied to his brother, which Tommy almost immediately saw through. I’m not sure why he didn’t immediately confess that Tess was dead – was it still too painful to talk about the loss? Could he not bring himself to admit he couldn’t protect her?
It wasn’t long before Joel was telling Tommy everything, though – about Ellie at least … about her immunity, Tess, Marlene’s mission, all of it. It regularly frustrates me in TV and film that characters never tell each other their stories, leading to all manner of unresolved misunderstandings, resentments and confusions, so I was pleased to hear Joel and Tommy thrash it out, then for Tommy to sit down and demand a proper catchup: “From the beginning,” he said, pulling up a stool. More of this please.
Elsewhere in the commune, Maria was handing out mooncups, haircuts and wisdom. “Be careful who you put your faith in. The only people who can betray us are the ones we trust,” she said. She also told Ellie about Sarah. I was wondering when that particular nugget was going to drop. Joel has been warming up as the pair’s journey has progressed, becoming softer and more open. But Sarah was always going to be off limits, even if Ellie is starting to fill the gap in his heart left by his daughter. When she confronted him, Joel reacted as expected. “Don’t. Don’t say another word,” he said, stating that she’s not his daughter, he’s sure as hell not her dad and that come dawn, they’d be going their separate ways.
After a vision of Sarah decorating a Christmas tree, you knew that was not going to be the case. And off they went, Joel taking Tommy’s place. He and Ellie enjoyed a beautiful trip on horseback talking about the past, American football and anything else they wanted to. They were more like father and daughter with each step.
Monkeying around
Five days later, they arrived at the university – complete with monkeys – where Joel and Ellie thought they were going to find the Firefly doctors, but were instead attacked by hunters. At first it looked as if Joel had been quick enough fending off the hunter, but we saw he’d been stabbed in the ruckus, as Ellie watched on helplessly, despite now having a pistol and knowing how to use it.
Joel collapsed in the train yard, Ellie willing him to get up because she’s finished without him. Will she be able to get him back on that horse and back to Tommy? Will he bleed out in the snow? Is his love for Ellie enough to bring him back? After all, it’s his paternal feelings for her that have caused all his anxiety and mounting doubt – since Sarah, he hasn’t cared enough about anyone to worry about a future without them.
Notes and observations
The film they were watching in the cinema was The Goodbye Girl, a 1977 movie written by Neil Simon. It stars Richard Dreyfuss as Elliot Garfield (he won the best actor Oscar for the performance), Marsha Mason as Paula and Quinn Cummings as Lucy. The plot concerns an abandoned mother and daughter who must learn to live with a newcomer as an unconventional family.
After joining Nasa in 1978, Sally Ride in 1983 became the first American woman to go to space.
How beautiful was that shot of Joel and Ellie walking over the snow-covered bridge? Sensational.
The dam serves as a great metaphor for Joel’s emotions in this episode. He can no longer bottle up his feelings. The floodgates are open.
Nice Dina cameo in the canteen. If you know, you know, as they say.
The song that closed the episode was a cover of Depeche Mode’s Never Let Me Down Again by one Jessica Mazin, daughter of the series co-head honcho Craig Mazin. Those with good memories will remember the original version of that song closed the first episode of the series and symbolised bad news on Bill and Frank’s musical code (1980s = trouble). What does this modern cover imply?
What did you think? Everything you were hoping for? Have your say below but please, no spoilers from the game …
